My "Job"

First of all, I love my job!! What I love even more is my ministry. There are a lot of "cool" jobs out there. Like the guy who gets paid to live on a beach and monitor the coral reef. That's a pretty sweet gig. Or, the freelance trumpet player in Orlando that makes 6 figures playing for Disney events when needed. That'd be awesome. But, my job is different. The hours are long. The weekends are non existent. The pay, well, it is what it is. The vacation time is limited... BUT, I love what I do. I do what God has called me to do. I think I am beginning to understand what I need to be doing in my short time here on earth.
I get to worship God and teach others how to worship. That's freaking awesome!! I've been at Fairhaven almost 5 years now and I'm realizing that I have a huge responsibility to the kids and students I work with weekly. We talk about worship. We practice worship. We look in the Bible for ways to worship. We do, we do, we do. Here's the kicker though... They are watching me. These students and kids watch me on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. They want to see if I'm for real. They want to know if I'm all talk or if I actually believe what I am telling them. They want to see my passion written all over my expressions. They want me to be real.
This is a tough challenge. Everytime I fail in my spiritual journey, I realize I am not just letting myself down. I have to be better. I have to be a role model... Really?!?! Me?!?! I know the unread chapters of my life. I know my struggles. I know when I fall short of the expectations that God has for me. I'm a screw up. I'm a sinner. I need grace.
But... I am an example. I have to be. I've been called to this ministry. It's important to me!! And when a student (or group of students) start to show glimmers of worship, I weep. I can't help it. It's so awesome to watch these kids worship our God!!
I have a group of kids that are my "favorites". Not that I love kids more than other kids, but this particular grade was my group when I got here. These kids were in 4th grade when I got here. I was in charge of the 4th and 5th grade group. No 5th graders from that group still go to Fairhaven. So, these are my kids. They are now in 8th grade. They lead the MSM Praise Team on a weekly basis. Wednesday, 2 weeks ago, I started realizing how much they've grown. One of the girls on mic was worshipping God during rehearsal. It wasn't fake. It wasn't put on. It wasn't a show. I looked up to the front of the room and she was worshipping!! I lost it. I couldn't control it. I started to cry. Here was one of "my kids" leading her peers in worship. This is awesome!! It was one of coolest things for me!!
That one moment makes my "job" the coolest thing in the world. There are so many moments like this... everytime I get an encouragement card from one of these kids, it comes at a time when I need a little spiritual pick-me-up. These students get me excited about what I do. This ministry is freaking awesome!!
Just my thoughts...

"It Only Takes One"

Sunday night, after Uprising, I talked to one of the kids not in the band yet. He's a drummer and he'll be playing with us soon. Let me give you some background on him. He's the guy who leads from the floor. He's the guy who forces himself into the middle of the room just so kids will clap with him. He's the guy that doesn't care about what others think about him. He's the guys who closes his eyes, opens his hands, and worships our God. He's the guy that gets "it".
So, after the deal, he and I are talking. I wanted to know what it felt like in the room. I wanted to know what it's going to take to get our students to worship God and not care what it looks like. I asked him what we needed to do to get them to have fun. What's it going to take to get these kids on fire for God and to openly worship Him with complete abandonment. His response was simple. "It only takes one." Wow!! That's awesome. See. He gets it. But, how does that translate? What is "one" going to do to leave an impact.
So, I've been chewing on this since Sunday night. How does one student transform this ministry? I immediately thought of a ripple on a pond or a lake. This is a good visual. But, how does this look with students? And when it looks like it is working, is it real or fake?
There is so much to be done in this ministry. Here's my focal point. I want to see these students love Jesus with everything that's inside of them. I want to see them worship Him because He is God. No other reason. I don't want to see them doing it for me, or for their parents, or for their friends. I want them to love God for God. It's not about me. It's not about the music. It's not about the leadership team. It's not about anything more than God. That's got to be understood. If they can get this, God will do amazing things with their lives.
One student can understand this... one student can use this to change this ministry. Here's the reality. Nothing I say or do is going to make them decide to do this. I can tell them how to worship. I can show them how to worship. I can teach them about worship. I can't make them worship. What will make them worship is when they realize they need God. The most important thing for me to do as a worship leader is to get out of the way. It's not about me. It can't be. One student can get this and change the way students view worship. If one student chooses to love God and show it publicly, not because he/she wants to be seen- but because they can't help but love God through music, other students will catch it. They have to know there is nothing to be afraid of... but first, they have to get to the point of loving God because He is God.
Can one student do this? I believe so. The Bible tells us with the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. A mustard seed is the smallest seed. WOW!! So, if we're not moving mountains, we must not have that much faith. That totally blows my mind. I have faith, right?? Of course I have faith. How much do I have? That's a tough question. Am I moving mountains? That's a challenge. God never said that this life was going to be easy. What I do know is, I love God. I can't wait to see what mountains these students are going to move for Him. It only takes one!!

Just my thoughts...

New Week

Here we go again... My week often starts on Tuesday. Due to the amount of energy poured out over the weekend, Mondays have become my Sabbath. I take Mondays off to recover from the business of weekends and to prepare for another week.
This past weekend was a great weekend. I spent Saturday at the WPAFB marathon. Courtney, and our friend, Dave, ran the half-marathon. We were up early and spent all morning on base. Both of them ran very well and finished with strong results. From a personal note, I was very proud of them. They had great times!! I have to admit, it was tough watching all the runners finish. This marathon running was my idea, but I'm injured and couldn't run. That was hard. I had spend months training, only to see it not happen right now. It was disappointing, but there will be other races to run. I just have to focus on getting my knee better.
Saturday afternoon, we took a nap. Being up at 4:30 was not easy, so our sleep was much needed. Courtney's parents had come in for the marathon, so it was good to be with family. Because of the business of the morning, I took Saturday evening off. At Fairhaven, we have a Saturday evening service. Because of that, I am tied up most of the afternoon and evening every Saturday. This time it was nice being able to stay home and spend time with family. I think this was the first time I stayed home when the in-laws were in town. Aside from being tired, it was a good time together.
Sunday was a long day. This day always starts early. Generally, I am at the church by 7:15 every Sunday morning. This week was no different. Two services and a rehearsal make for long morning of worship, but it was good. Accountability was the theme from David's message as we spent time in the book of Hebrews. It was a great reminder that we need each other to make it through this life. We can't just depend on our own personal time with God or in the Bible. We will find the strength through each other. It's when we are connected that we are able to grow. Great message!!
Sunday afternoons become very rushed. I usually get out of the church by 1:00. After the service, we had a quick lunch together as a family. I changed my clothes, said good-bye to Courtney's parents (and Courtney for that matter) and headed back to the church at 2:30. OUr Sunday night deal is the high school time. We call it Uprising. We just added the high school band to this thing and it's awesome. In order to make this happen, it takes a lot of work. We do a complete platform changeover from 2:30-3:30, sound check from 3:30-4:00, rehearse from 4:00-6:00 and do our thing at 6:30. It was a great night. We have a lot of growing we need to do as a band, but we are only going ot get better. The theme for the night was on authenticity... learning how to live from the inside out. We all struggle with showing what's really on the inside, but this is a great focus for our students. Don, our youth pastor, hit the nail on the head this weekend. Our students will get it. They are great kids. By 9:00, I made it home to my wife. Exhausted, we were in bed by 10:00.
So, Monday came and went. I relaxed. I didn't do too much. I ran some errands, did a little around the house, had an early dinner with Courtney when she got home from school. This was a much needed restful day. I am thankful for my Mondays. I love alone time. This is how I recharge. I love sitting down and being with my thoughts. But now, Tuesday is here and there is much to do. Today is going to be a good day. God is good!!

What the??

Yes, it's true. I've been sucked into the world of blogging. Why? Not sure. I know I have stuff to say. It runs through my head constantly. Maybe I just need to type it out and see what happens. At least it will clear a little space in my head. :)

So, what does embracing opportunities mean? About a month ago, I've been challenging myself to ignore the obstacles we face and embrace them as opportunities. You know what I'm talking about. We all have to face situations where we don't see the end result... or the end result seems impossible to get to. Practical example: You have a pair of pants you want to get into, but your physical shape keeps you from getting into them. This can be viewed as an obstacle. One response could be that you're not ever going to fit so don't try. Now you've given in. Any positive thought has been sucked out of you. Another response is to decide you're going to find a way to get into those pants. You start watching what you eat, exercising regularly and focusing on your goal. Before you know it, you can get into those pants and everything else you've wanted to get into it.

That story was mine just a year and a half ago. One Sunday morning, two Christmases ago, I realized I had one pair of dress pants I could fit into. Then I realized I had worn them the previous two Sundays. As a music pastor who is often on the platform in front of the congregation, this is a problem. But, I had no other options. Or, so it seemed. I had to do something. I was determined I was not going to buy a whole new wardrobe.

My wife had bought me a pair of pants right before this moment and there was no way I was getting into them. I hung them on my closet door as my goal pants. Then, through the help of my awesome wife and my friend Chris, I began working out, balancing my food intake, and developing the mindset I had weight I needed to lose. You know what happened, two months later I could fit into those pants. Two months after that, those "skinny" pants were too BIG!! Wow. I couldn't believe it. Diet and exercise actually work!! :)

From there, I began running a lot. Nine months ago I began training for a marathon. Never saw that happening. One sprained knee later, I'm not running right now. I'm also not running my marathon. This is another obstacle. Does this mean I'll never run a marathon? No. It means I won't be running the one I thought. I'll get to it. When I'm better. My sprained knee has allowed me to spend more time focusing on my ministry with the kids and youth of Fairhaven Church. These guys are awesome. I can't imagine my ministry without them. These guys are not the future of our church, they are the present.

I guess this is where we'll start. I'm sure there's more to say, but we'll get to it.